You are here

Indicators and their sources of verification

The next step in the workshop is to identify the indicators. There are a number of advantages to formulating the indicators with the whole group:

People that are closer to the field and the actual problems will know better how you can see that the situation improves. With the group, you can find better indicators.

It is easier to find useful indicators, that can effectively be monitored.

When a project manager tries to identify indicators on his own, he or she will have a tendency to create indicators that can be expressed in numbers, such as the income per household to measure improved welfare. However, in the field it may be very difficult to get such a number, because people often don’t have a notion of how money they earn. Besides, no-one likes to talk about how much they earn, do they? With a group you will be able to come up with indicators that are more easily measured. For instance whether people can afford to send their children to school, or if they can afford to improve their house or pay for transport.

When the indicators are identified, the group should check for each indicator:

What information is needed

Who should give/find that information

In what form

If the indicator cannot be readily measured and verified, it should be replaced or dropped altogether.